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@xvarnah- ask and yes shall receive. Here I am to explain how offensive it is. Just kidding. Sort of. Preface: I’m not here to say getting dreads is offensive or it is cultural appropriation. I just see a lot of confusion and misunderstanding of the issue from many of the comments I see. Hopefully this can help:

There isn’t some cultural uniqueness to having straight hair. Many people around the world have straight hair. Having straight hair isn’t a pillar of cultural identity or some right of passage for white folks. It isn’t symbolic or meaningful to the majority of white folks. It’s hair- it’s straight. “Cultural appropriation” isn’t “we do this so you can’t...” it’s “doing this because we do this, when this is part of who we are and you are copying something with cultural significance because you think it’s cool...” especially between cultures where one has historically taken from the other and not been given or shared with- is the idea of cultural appropriation.

Wearing a cheongsam isn’t appropriation inherently if you aren’t Chinese. If you’re getting married to a Chinese groom and participating in his culture- it is becoming in part your culture- there’s a clear example of appropriate. Taking that element of culture from the Chinese because “it is cool,” and repurposing it and changing it into something other that no longer reflects its heritage is however arguably cultural appropriation.

Diffusion occurs between cultures. When groups or individuals share time and space they will exchange things, pick things up from each other etc. If you grow up in Mexico, immersed in the culture and language etc. it doesn’t matter so much where you are from- you’ll pick up things. If you live in China, your family comes from Finland, and you’ve never had a Mexican friend in your life but start trying to “be Mexican” by your approximation of what you’ve seen or gleaned on Mexican culture because you think it’s cool.... while your intentions are perhaps not bad- that could be called cultural appropriation.

In part it comes down to an understanding and immersion in a culture. Deciding it would be “fun” to celebrate Hanukkah- without understanding the culture and traditions- getting a 3 pronged candle holder and giving tiny gifts every day for a week up to Christmas... it disrespects the culture through ignorance. There is some overlap with fetishizing or de humanizing.

People get mixed up on both sides of the coin. Not everything that is loaned or picked up from other cultures is cultural appropriation and some people feel it is- that anything a culture touches or “originates” it makes popular etc. belongs to that culture. But appreciating a culture and respecting a culture isn’t the same as fetishizing it or rejecting the people but taking what you like and trying to make it yours.

You don’t have to be Japanese to wear a Gi. By wearing a Gi while training in Japanese martial arts you are respecting the culture that you are participating in. Showing understanding of it even (hopefully.) By using a Star of David design for a toilet seat because it looks cool- you are not only showing you don’t understand the meaning, but you dont respect if of the people who it means something to.

Tl:dr- across the board people get confused on the subject- and it is nuanced and subjective as it has to do with respect and significance of a thing. In short- straight hair isn’t generally a cultural touchstone, a right of passage, or something commonly associated with that culture. It isn’t a source of CULTURAL identity.

I understand what cultural appropriation is. I'm saying not everything everyone screams about just because it's popular to them is cultural appropriation. Including hairstyles. And straight hair has been extremely influential in "white culture." It was never an exclusively white hairstyle, but it sure is popular among them. Much like dreadlocks. And what's good for the goose is good for the gander.
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I guarantee most people wearing dreadlocks regardless of skin color are not doing it because it's part of their culture. They're doing it because they like them.
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If dreadlocks are important to culture, but someone who happens to be black wears them without giving a fuck about that culture, and that's NOT cultural appropriation, then screaming it IS cultural appropriation when other people of OTHER skin colors do it is not only hypocrisy, it's racism.

Well... we have to break this down a bit. Being INFLUENTIAL isn’t really a criteria. Cell phones and airplanes and steel have all been influential in societies, but only a crackpot would argue that building a manned flying machine is stealing from a culture. We have to separate the society from the cultural. Complex. Nuanced. But possible. What role has straight hair played in white culture? What is its significance? What does it mean? When describing white culture, white people- is straight hair one of the defining traits commonly associated? Careful now. A whole lot of curly haired whites might disagree- and with curly hair being a long time and enduring beauty standard in white culture that’s a hard argument to make.

Now- are dreads “cultural appropriation?” Well... they DO hold a significance in African American Culture, and literally 9/10 people I can name right now in my life I know who have dreads don’t just wear them for looks. Dreads have a practical purpose for people with certain hair types- namely black folks. For those very in touch with their roots they have a meaning- and for many African Americans they have historical meaning and are part of the identity of African Americans.

Funny you bring up straight hair. Hair is a very touchy topic with many black folks. White society has traditionally mocked or even banned natural black hair. Many struggle with the idea of straightening hair because the idea of beauty and straight hair for them does bring up that history of blacks being forced to adopt white standards of beauty or adhere to them- the idea that was classically put forward that natural black looks and traditional black styles etc. we’re not beautiful- could not be- were inappropriate or less than white or other standards.

There is a history that has a legacy in the modern day that Black Americans need to conform, to fit in to white society. That their cultural mannerisms and customs and morals, names and manners of speech and so forth m- and of course natural appearances- aren’t “professional” or “appropriate.” Study after study shows that certain names are less likely to be hired than others- and these names tend to be names that don’t come from white antiquity- especially those names which can strongly be associated with a single non white culture.

So there is a pressure to conform and to abandon ones heritage (if one knows it or has any links to it,) and to adopt a “white American” way of speech and dress and style and thinking and behavior if one wants to exist in a “white setting” like a board room etc. you don’t see many Fortune 500 executives in traditional businesses who have braids do you?

So there is a symbolism- a sense of identity there. An African American who’s family has been in America for perhaps hundreds of years often has lost (in point of fact their ancestors were likely stripped of) their heritage. They aren’t African. Most have never been and will never go to Africa- many don’t want to. Most are American- but as they are, they are rejected at the least in many small ways by America. From their names to the way they must watch their words and behaviors around culturally white Americans there is a clear message that we aren’t all the same. And we are not all the same.

Black Americans, Americans of color. So on- are exactly that. African Americans defended from or growing up in a post slavery nation don’t have an ancestral identity beyond the identity of enforced poverty and segregation that black culture in America developed in. In modern times things are better but not perfect and that heritage is evolving to where a young black child can say “my parents were a doctor and a lawyer and we are Yale Alum..” something that would pretty much be unheard of for almost 200 odd years. A relatively new development, and through that change many are tryin not to lose the heritage they do have- their heritage as a minority in America.

Are dreads cultural appropriation? I don’t know. Sometimes I’m sure they aren’t. Sometimes I’m sure they are. If we cut the PC crap- most people would describe dreads or corn rows as a “black” hairstyle. If they had to guess who had dreads they’d probably guess a black person or a white person who listens to reggae and smells like patchouli and sandalwood. “Dontavious Lamar Martin” might not be black- most people would likely assume he is by the name. “Micheal Smith” could go either way no? That’s a good test right there.

But regardless- it isn’t cultural appropriation if you literally force, and then compel under threat against social status or employment or literal torture- someone adopt aspects of your culture like appearance and name- and they do for and after 200 odd years they have adopted some aspects willingly. It could certainly be cultural appropriation when someone else does something that is largely mocked in society until another group starts doing it- and that thing is part of another groups identity and identified with that group- and they ask you not to. And then you take it.

And to the “Viking” arguments and all that crap- go find me a cultural Viking. A person who practices the culture of their Viking ancestors and who holds the dread lock as a culture tenant of Viking identity- and let’s talk to them about the issue. Because saying “Vikings did it first and they’re white so it is ok...” is ignorant unless you’re a Viking- and even then we could have a nice discussion about the particulars.

Yeah- but it’s irrelevant wether its was made by a Martian because peanut butter isn’t a central and defining aspect or sacrament of any known culture of macro proportions. How to say it.... it’s tradition at say.. a Bar mitzvah to loft someone up on a chair. Using a chair to sit in isn’t cultural appropriation- deciding to throw your young boy a Bar mitzvah as a non Jew or mixed family and with no real ties to Jewish culture- and copying every aspect of the rite but with no knowledge or understanding of the culture- or in a way completely inappropriate to the culture you are borrowing from- could strongly be argued to be just that. Like- if Nazis started using the bar mitzvah as an initiation- that’s cultural appropriation.

If you see a Maori tribal tattoo and go “oh. That looks cool..” and copy it- that could be argued to be cultural appropriation. Not getting a tattoo. Not necessarily getting a “tribal tattoo,” but getting a tattoo with a specific place in that culture that is reserved for their people or people meeting certain criteria you do not. There are no real cultural tenants to peanut butter.

Why are you so heated about peanut butter origins? And know so much about peanut butter but didn't know how people started eating it in the US?

What?